Herbert Cushing & Mercur Utah

Going through photos from Dad/Lamar's side of the family, this picture was uncovered and scanned in. Written in Grandma Lucille's script are the words Herbert J. Cushing, Mercur, Utah.

So WHO is Herbert and WHERE is Mercur?

Herbert J Cushing was the half-brother of Olive Laura Hunt, who was Grandma Lucille's mother. That would make him Dad/Lamar's GrandUncle, the WestraSixSibling's Great-GrandUncle, and the Great-Great-GrandUncle of the next generation, Westra Grandchildren.

The arrow drawn on the photograph points out which gentleman is Herbert. He was born in 1876, served in the Spanish-American War (1898) and passed away in 1912.

Olive Laura Hunt is in the picture too, next to her brother ... the woman sitting on the left side of the group. She is Dad/Lamar's Grandmother, which makes her the WestraSix's Great-Grandmother. Olive was born in 1882, so she is six years younger than her brother. She passed away in 1959, before Dad/LaMar and Mom/Margie got married.

We don't know who the other people in the picture are ... 

Now on to Mercur ...  Ironically enough, in March 2021, shortly after Chris uncovered this photograph, Conner and Amber (Chris's oldest) were going camping with friends. Where? Mercur, Utah! 

Mercur was located in what is now Tooele County and it had many ups and downs throughout its history. Today, no trace of any town/building remains in the area. An abandoned cemetery is all that remains of a once booming mining town.

In the beginning, it was a typical mining town with saloons and gambling, and later, a school and a church. Most of the buildings were of simple wood construction. Gold mining reached its peak in 1873. Population estimates were that 2000 people were living there then. In 1880, the ore dried up and it became a ghost town. A Bavarian prospector came in hoping to find different metals, and he did. Cinnabar, an ore of mercury ... and that's where the name Mercur came from. In 1890, a new process using cyanide was developed,  accessing gold that hadn't been able to be extracted before. The boom was back on!

On January 4, 1896, Utah was being admitted into the Union as a state. The residents of Mercur were planning to incorporate their town to coincide with that event. But a few days before, most of the town was destroyed by fire. The town was rebuilt. Then in 1902, there was another fire. In just over two hours, every business building in the city had been destroyed. They rebuilt again. By 1910, estimates place the population at 8,000-12,000. But in 1913, the gold mining operation became unprofitable, and by 1917, the town was deserted, again. Once again, new methods of extraction and refining got things going again in the 1930s, although this revival stayed small, just shacks and barracks, no real town. Later on all remaining buildings were torn down, and Mecur was no more.

Herbert passed away when he was just 36 years old. Mecur is mentioned as a place of employment in his obituary. The obituary on FamilySearch can be enlarged to be more readable, but I'll also include it below. Printed Sunday, October 27, 1912

Herbert John Cushing, son of Henry Charles and Laura Cushing, died Friday of diabetes. The deceased was born in Salt Lake August 29, 1876. During his young manhood he worked several years as a printer and later as a plumber. For nine months he was a member of the Utah National Guard, being a corporal in Company D. He enlisted in Battery C, Utah Volunteer Light artillery June 27, 1898. While in the service of the battery at Angel Island, California, he attained the rank of sergeant and was mustered out of service December 21, 1898, at which time he received an honorable discharge which certifies to an excellent character. Both before and after his service as a volunteer, he was employed in the mills at Mercur, Manning, Sunshine and Kimberly. At the last named place he worked his way up to mill foreman. At this time, as his efforts were being crowned with success, he was seized with diabetes. He was forced to give up his work October 20, 1905 and return to the home of his mother. He was unmarried. A mother, one brother Harry W Cushing and one sister Mrs. Claude Erskine, remain to mourn his loss. The remains may be viewed at his mother's home, 837 Sherman Ave, today between the hours of 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Funeral services will be held this afternoon at 2 o'clock in the Emerson Ward chapel, to which all friends are invited. Interment in City cemetery. 

Army Pictures and Paperwork

Thank you to our Veterans! 

There has already been a post about Grandpa Rex Norman's military service (In the Army Now) which showcases some family furlough photos and portions of his written history. As we continue to research, additional photos and documents have been uncovered. So here's a few more peeks into Grandpa Rex's military service. Two new photos (above) and some paperwork (below, click on any image to enlarge).

This record shows the duties/positions, work experience and prior education 

as well as dates entering and leaving the service.

We found it interesting to note on the discharge papers, that Grandpa Rex was only 5'7" and 151 pounds. This also includes "Decorations and Citations" and we are grateful he didn't need to go into action overseas!

Certificate of Appreciation 

This was the pouch that Grandpa kept these papers in.

In The Army Now - Grandpa Rex in WW2

In 1943, Nelva was four, Margie wasn't yet nine months old and Zada found she was pregnant again. This could be a challenge under any circumstances, but World War 2 was going on and there was worry that Rex would be drafted. And he was.

From Rex's written history ...

Within a very short time Uncle Sam said, “I want you.” So into the Army I went. I could have my choice of the Navy (active duty in one week) or the Marines (duty in two weeks) or the Army (duty in three weeks). Because I would have to move Zada and the girls to Mt. Pleasant and get them settled down, I had to go with the Army. I reported to Fort Douglas induction center on Feb. 2, 1944. It would usually take about five days to clear the induction center, but I spent 36 days there. I then asked how much longer I would need to remain there and they informed me that I was waiting for special orders. People with my experience on IBM equipment were in demand. When I shipped out, I couldn’t even inform my family as to where I was going.

I was told to climb on top of a truckload of barracks bags and was driven to the railroad station. All alone, I was placed aboard a troop train passing through Salt Lake City. On arriving in Denver, Colorado, I was taken to the First Air Force Base called Buckley Field. There I was to receive my basic training. I was just finishing my training and baby was about due, so I applied to the Red Cross for an emergency furlough to be home when it came. But they didn’t make any attempt to secure one. As a result, I have no use for them, as do a great many of the other GIs. When I received my shipping orders, my assignment was to a Data Processing Unit as a keypunch operator at the First Air Force Headquarters located at Mitchell Field, New York. They gave me a 15-day delay in route. I was then able to go home and be there when the baby came. Two days before I was to return to duty, our baby boy finally made his appearance. We named him Merrill Rex and he was born May 3, 1944. I then had to leave with Zada still in the hospital and to go to Mitchell Field, NY, still traveling alone. For the next 20 months, I was assigned there.

I received the rank of Corporal and was eligible for Sergeant, but they froze the rankings. I was also on shipping orders twice for overseas, but they stopped because of my M.O.S classification, which was 300. I was also on orders to transfer to the Infantry for the Battle of the Bulge. I was also given a chance to go to Arial Gunnery School for the bombers, which I turned down. While there, I went from the keypunch to the tabulating equipment. There I was in charge of consolidating all the reports from over 30 airbases in the First Air Force and sending a daily report to the Continental Air Force Headquarters in Washington D.C.

The war was not yet over. I was looking forward to getting home, but they were holding me in because of the two-year clause. I had 65 points toward discharge and the Air Force was down to 35 points for the release. Finally in Dec. 1945, changes were made and I was eligible for release. I would watch every list that they posted, which was about every two hours. Finally on Dec. 14, 1945, on the last list for the day, my name appeared. I could go to Fort Douglas, Utah for release or get it at Mitchell Field and get travel expenses home. I wanted to be sure and get home as fast as possible and sure I would be home for Christmas. So I took my discharge there. I told the C.O. goodbye and ran to the barracks; there I threw everything into my barracks bags and went to the separation center. It was only two barracks away and I started to process at once. By noon the next day, with my discharge in my hand, I was on my way to New York and home. What a happy day. I arrived home just before Christmas.

Search local papers for your own stories ...Utah Digital Newspapers

In Grandma Zada's history, she also mentions how they were worried about the draft. That Merrill was 10 days late and they were afraid Grandpa Rex would have to go back before the birth. She lived in Mt. Pleasant, renting a couple of different houses while he was gone. She said "Rex sent us gifts and was able to get home a couple of times. I will never forget the day President Roosevelt died, or the rationing that went on during the war. I kept so busy I didn't have time to get too lonely. Soon the war was over and Rex would be home. What a happy day that was!"